J.K. Rowling may still be working on the script for her upcoming West End play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, but the first promotional artwork has made it onto the Internet.
[seealso slug="harry-potter-and-the-cursed-child"]
The artwork, revealed on Pottermore, depicts a small and perhaps deliberately gender-ambiguous child, sitting in a round bird's nest. It's positioned over the background so that two paint splatters appear to attach to it like the wings of a Golden Snitch.
Rowling was among the first to praise the new visuals after Pottermore debuted them.
And I love it! https://t.co/kIW48O4IQ2— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) October 22, 2015
It may not seem like much, but Harry Potter fans are no slouches when it comes to frantic enthusiasm and elaborate theorizing over something as small as word choice -- let alone imagery.
My whole body is covered in goosebumps and there're twigs or branches or something in my eyes. *sobs* #CursedChild https://t.co/iomnIEuGez— Amelia Spookywing (@Browncoat_Auror) October 22, 2015
Rowling is co-writing the two-part play with playwright Jack Thorne and director John Tiffany.
Ever since Cursed Child was first announced in June, fans scrambled to figure out the meaning of the play and the identity of the titular cursed child. So what does the artwork mean?
The child is obviously not Harry (which we should have anticipated -- #NotAPrequel), and the Snitch imagery points to definite ties to the magical world, whether the cursed child is aware of them or not. Is the child Muggle-born, raised in an abusive home like Harry's, or perhaps even a Squib -- born to magical parents but with no magical ability of their own?
SO intrigued by the #CursedChild artwork. Really can't wait to have more HP in my life. I'm going no matter what the cost.— Divergent (@Swiftstille) October 22, 2015
Rowling and her team will undoubtedly tease more information leading up to the summer 2016 premiere of the play. Until then, Harry Potter fans can wait and speculate -- two things they have proven to do very, very well.